The problem of solid waste disposal has become one of the biggest concerns of everyone throughout the world. For many years it has been the common practice of a vast majority of people to dispose of solid waste at inland and ocean sites. This practice has caused untold environmental problems which must be substantially curtailed. To lessen the environmental problems associated with solid waste disposal, many states, counties and cities have established laws and regulations requiring the separation and recycling of certain solid waste. The recycling of solid waste is beneficial to society from both the standpoints of reducing environmental pollution and energy conservation. For example, many kinds of solid waste such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles can be recycled and made into new products at a fraction of the energy required to make the products from raw materials.
To implement solid waste recycling, solid waste must be first separated. As set forth above, many states, counties and cities have enacted laws or regulations requiring the separation of solid waste for pick-up and disposal purposes. These laws or regulations typically require the separation of aluminum, recyclable glass, recyclable plastic, and recyclable paper articles from other kinds of non-recyclable solid waste. The separation of the many kinds of recyclable solid waste is especially troublesome for residents of homes due to the shortage of space within the home for sorting, separating and temporarily storing the many different kinds of solid waste.
Several U.S. patents have been granted on apparatuses for disposing of solid waste from within a building to containers located outside of the building and these include: U.S. Pat. No. 1,441,040 (Stephenson); U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,441 (Mullens); U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,685 (Price); U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,345 (Mullens); U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,988 (Messina); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,829 (Shantzis).
The Stephenson U.S. Pat. No. 1,441,040 discloses a single garbage container located outside a building for hanging on a window sill of the building for collecting solid waste. Each of the Mullens U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,261,441 and 3,554,345 discloses a solid waste disposal device for partial mounting within an opening in a building that includes a chute connected to the lid of a single solid waste container located outside the building which allows the disposal of the solid waste within the building for collection outside the building The Price U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,685 discloses a solid waste disposal device for partial mounting within an opening in a house that includes a chute for directing solid waste into a selected solid waste container locate outside the house to allow a person to dispose of the solid waste without leaving the house. The Messina U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,988 discloses a refuse collecting, separating and conveying device for recycling various types of solid waste, said device comprising a plurality of openings in a side wall of a building, a separate duct or chute in communication with each opening in the side wall of the building, and a plurality of solid waste container located outside the building for selectively receiving solid waste disposed through a selected opening and duct. The Shantzis U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,829 discloses a system having a single chute for use in a multi-story building to collect into separate containers, supported on a turntable, different categories of solid waste already separated by a tenant for recycling purposes and which includes control means on each floor to enable the tenant to move the turntable to position a selected receptacle beneath the chute for receiving the solid waste being disposed of by the tenant. While these prior art devices may be suitable for the specific purpose to which they address, they are not suitable for the purposes of the present invention.
There is therefore a definite need for a simple, but efficient, apparatus for mounting within a wall or window of a home for selectively separating within the home and containing outside the home the various recyclable and non-recyclable solid waste which accumulates within the home.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for a building which allows the separation and containing of recyclable and non-recyclable solid waste.
It is a another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be easily attached to a home for separating and containing several categories of recyclable and non-recyclable solid waste.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can be readily and easily attached to the wall of a room of a home which permits the separation in several different categories of recyclable and non-recyclable solid waste by a person within the room and containing same outside of the home.
These objects, as well as other objects, of the present invention will become more readily apparent after reading the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.